Product Details

• Actors: Anthony Hopkins, Richard Jordan, Cliff Gorman, James Naughton, Michael Lonsdale
• Directors: George Schaefer
• Writers: James P. O'Donnell, John Gay, Uwe Bahnsen
• Producers: Adrienne Luraschi, Aida Young, David Susskind, Diana Kerew
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English, Russian
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: October 12, 1999
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303103081
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,929 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Anthony Hopkins gives an Emmy Award-winning performance as Adolf Hitler over the 105 days of his decline. With the Third Reich crumbling around him, Hitler rages as he faces the final hours before a choice must be made between suicide and surrender.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tea with Adolf., April 24, 2000

By	Richard P. Mayhew (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Anyone who was ever curious about what the last desperate days of The Third Reich were like needs to see this film. I recently read Cornelius Ryan's book The Last Battle which is about the battle of Berlin in early 1945. The movie is so faithful to the book I would not be suprised if it were used to produce the screen play. Mr. Hopkins as one would expect does a masterful job of portraying the doomed dictator in his subterranean labryinth. The supporting cast is up to the task, actors look very much like the people they are portraying, uniforms and personalities are correct. Where history does not provide answers this movie thankfully does not conjecture (for example the fate of Martin Borman and the disposal of the bodies of Hitler and his wife Eva) but follows the facts as well as can be acertained. Hitlers violent mood swings are documented as well as every other story about what went on in the bunker to include; quack doctors, Eva Braun, the Goebbels family, Guderian, the political treachery of Himmler and Goering, astrological predictions, preparation for suicides and rape by Russian soldiers. Scenes of outright madness such as decorating The Hitler Youth with medals while the Russian forces are blocks away blasting ever closer add to the feeling of lunacy. The scene where the bunker secretaries share tea and crumpets with Der Fuhrer is memorable as is the wedding reception scene, they make you think more of an execution rather than a celebration. Several explosions but no real combat scenes. I would have got this on DVD had it been available, but the VCR version is of fine quality. This is a great movie especially if you are a WW2 or history buff.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beware the DVD Soundtrack, June 19, 2006

By	RA Meeks "ra meeks" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Bunker (DVD)

I have to give the dvd version of the Bunker only 4 stars, since someone, for some reason, has changed the movie's soundtrack from the original. To hear the original score, which adds a great deal to the overall feeling of the film, you will have to secure the vhs version.

As for who captures the "real" Hitler better, some like Guinness, some Hopkins, and some Bruno Ganz, who is remarkable in Downfall. I think they all manage to capture something of a person who was something of a stranger to even those closest to him.

Plus, Downfall is a German-made film, and it's interesting to see Hitler through the eyes of a subsequent generation of Germans. Compare Ganz's role in Downfall with his excellent performance in Wings of Desire. Just for fun.

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GÃ-TTERDÄMMERUNG!, April 2, 2000

By	Francisco J. Calderon "Paco Calderón" (Mexico City, Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Back when I saw 'Nixon' I thought "Hopkins doesn't look like him" and that mere fact spoiled the entire movie for me. Two days ago I was watching 'The Bunker' and my initial reaction was that same one. But as the story unfolds, Hopkins not only resembles Hitler, he becomes Hitler! All of the dictator's mannerisms, gestures, antics and tics are there, carefully woven with an eye-for-detail into what may very well be Sir Anthony's best performance to date. Every other actor doing the part just mimics Hitler's numb stupor, sudden outbursts of rage and endlessly boring conversation, but Hopkins' portrayal is far more sinister for he humanizes the monster by exposing him for the miserable nerd he really was (the scene when he clumsly dances in front of Eva Braun's camera is an acting lesson in itself). After watching the movie, one asks how did this wreck of a man ever came to power in a nation such as Germany? What did all those people ever saw in him to be blindingly shepherd into national suicide?

It's true the film has poor production values. One would hope HBO had invested in it the same resources it did for Robert Duvall's 'Stalin'. And yes, Richard Jordan's Speer appears far more heroic than the war criminal deserves to be remembered (although there's no evidence to say he acted otherwise during his stay at the bunker), and true, some minimal historical details are overlooked. Nevertheless, if you are a WWII buff, or if you just want to see an above-average TV movie, don't miss this one. Far superior than Alec Guiness' failed 'Hitler: the last ten days', and more historically accurate than Derek Jacobi's 'Inside the Third Reich'. A real tour-de-force!